• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, January 12, 2009

According to Compete's latest Retail blog, including details about "peaking" holiday shopping this year, 2007 saw four distinct purchase peaks during the holiday shopping season, all of which were relatively close to each other in terms of volume. This holiday season, 2008, no other single day could match the activity of Cyber Monday and Black Friday. Across this group of 10 major retailers,* Cyber Monday had at least 25% more people make a purchase online than the next closest day in December.

?*Leading Retailers are: Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, JCPenney.com, Kohls.com, Macys.com, Overstock.com, Sears.com, Target.com, ToysRUs.com, and Walmart.com

Few have heard about "Green Monday," says the report, which is designated as the 2nd Monday of December, named by eBay in a marketing campaign for late-season holiday shopping, to mark the last chance to order items without having to pay for expedited shipping (which usually means the end of free shipping offers).

However, in 2008, December began on a Monday, which caused debate over the real date of Green Monday. Some anticipated December 15th (the 3rd Monday) to be a busier day because it better represented the true last chance to save on shipping. But the final figures suggest that final shipping dates in 2008 may not have been as precisely fixed as expected, as "Green Monday" had the lowest conversion rate out of the four days, after being the highest in 2007.

Daily Volumes Of Online Purchasers During The Holiday Season (Across 10 Leading Retailers)
Date	2008	2007
11/20	779,667	650,316
11/21	810,664	573,433
11/22	917,679	766,099
11/23	1,041,956	1,536,511
11/24	955,654	1,107,816
11/25	890,163	1,060,156
11/26	826,010	1,334,597
11/27	1,221,686	907,685
11/28	2,613,012	886,936
11/29	1,597,573	919,766
11/30	1,495,769	896,056
12/1	2,685,065	1,230,037
12/2	1,701,921	1,229,548
12/3	1,592,458	1,159,408
12/4	1,620,381	1,136,247
12/5	1,583,884	1,058,963
12/6	1,766,682	1,022,861
12/7	2,128,706	1,079,622
12/8	1,897,776	1,234,778
12/9	1,839,848	1,556,797
12/10	1,850,168	1,352,303
12/11	1,872,683	1,298,823
12/12	1,772,988	1,189,258
12/13	1,941,887	1,170,153
12/14	2,110,348	1,119,966
12/15	2,155,051	1,279,348
12/16	1,965,303	1,432,716
12/17	1,744,420	1,288,793
12/18	1,488,374	1,029,023
12/19	1,287,681	815,673
12/20	1,186,371	636,824
12/21		518,628
12/22		533,928
12/23		466,294
12/24		367,581
12/25		407,332
Source: Compete, January 2009

On all four of the "key dates", the daily conversion rate (percent of shoppers making a purchase) increased in 2008 from the prior year as shoppers become more accustomed to doing their gift buying through a retailer's website.

The report writer concludes that "... As retailers pull out all the stops to salvage their years, shoppers... realize that clicking a mouse can be a... more pleasant shopping experience than wrestling the last item on the shelf... and... never-ending checkout lines."

Holiday Season Key Online Purchase Peaks (Across 10 Leading Retailers, 2007 vs. 2008)
	Calendar date		Purchasers			Conversion Rate
	2007	2008	2007	2008	% Change	2007	2008
Black Friday	Nov 23	Nov 28	1,536,511	2,613,012	70%	7.60%	10.51%
Cyber Monday	Nov 26	Dec 1	1,334,597	2,685,065	101%	7.13%	9.51%
Green Monday	Dec 10	Dec 8	1,352,303	1,897,776	40%	8.07%	8.52%
Following Monday	Dec 17	Dec 15	1,288,793	2,151,829	67%	7.97%	9.87%
Source: Compete, January 2009 Leading Retailers are: Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, JCPenney.com, Kohls.com, Macys.com, Overstock.com, Sears.com, Target.com, ToysRUs.com, and Walmart.com.

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